this is my story now too
by hannabanana13
Summary: Lyric has healer hands, and hunter feet. Quiet artist eyes. She is Peeta's daughter and she is Katniss's prodigy. She will fight the next war the way her parent's fought the Capitol. She will take care of her little brother.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The Hunger Games are not mine :(**

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_"Daddy?" Lyric asks Peeta, pushing her hair out of her eyes impatiently. "Who do you love more? Me or Hunter or Mommy?" Her little brother looks up from the toy truck he is playing with, at the sound of his name. He bobs his little blonde head and smiles. _

_Peeta looks down at his daughter, eyes clouded in thought. "I love Mommy more."_

_Lyric sits up, looks close to tears. "But Daddy! Why do you love her more?"_

_"I loved her _first._"_

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Lyric tosses the curls from her eyes and leans forward on her dresser, widening her eyes and staring intently at her reflection. Dark brown curls, wide blue eyes, a dusting of pale freckles. She shakes her head to free her hair and pulls on her favorite yellow sundress.

Her best friend is meeting her in town in twenty minutes, and Lyric still has to cook dinner for her little brother. Her parents are in the woods somewhere, they left before dawn and haven't been back all day. She has spent half her childhood wondering what they do all day in the trees that border the Meadow, far past the edge of town. She has inherited her mother's hatred for being told what to do, and shaking off the threat of rules, she followed them once.

They lay in the sunshine and they pick flowers in the Meadow. Katniss walks with her head on Peeta's shoulder, but they don't cry like they used to. She hunts after a while, pulling a wooden bow over her shoulder. They'll sing with the Mockingjays and dance in the streams and they will talk. Oh, they talk. They talk of nightmares and worlds she will never know, of people that made them who they were, of lives they have taken, and those they have saved.

Today, they left with a game bag and Katniss's bow, slung over Peeta's shoulder. He is carrying it, but he wont use it. Lyric has never seen her father hurt a fly, but she can see his strength in the muscle of his arms and his back when he takes off his shirt to swim in the lake.

Peeta had kissed her on the top of her head and Katniss told her to take care of her little brother. Lyric understands this, she knows of Katniss and her little sister who died in the big War. She knows how Katniss spent her life saving her. Lyric knows of the guilt, the pain, the tears. The part that Lyric regrets, however, is the fact that she learned it from her Aunt Johanna. And she has learned most of her parents past from the history books at school. Lyric is undeniably curious, and she researched the Games that her mother screams about late at night, trapped inside her own head and nightmares.

Lyric hates thinking about her mother scared, so she grabs a pair of tall brown boots and slips them on. She runs down the stairs of their house, jumping off the sixth step to land loudly on the hard wood floor, and walks into the kitchen to find her brother.

Hunter is sitting in the sunshine on the front steps, sketchbook in hands. He's got a charcoal pencil and his hood of his sweatshirt over his bright blonde hair, and he's staring intently at the geese in Haymitch's front yard. The drawing in his hand already looks beautiful, and Lyric can see he's only half finished.

"Hunter." She says from behind him. "What do you want for dinner?"

"I don't care." Hunter answers, quietly. His calm voice tells her she did not succeed in surprising him. "Do we have bread?"

"Yeah." Lyric answers, as she walks back into the kitchen to search for dinner for him. She searches the cupboards and has bread, cheese, and apples set on the table for him. She ruffles his hair on the way by, tells him dinner's on the table. "I'm meeting Senna in the Square. Don't leave the house." Lyric adds quickly, skipping down the steps and heading up the path that leads towards the town that is quickly growing into a city. She calls behind her, a habit gained from her parents, who never leave the house without telling their children: "I love you."

He calls something back, but his voice is chased away by the wind. When she turns back to look at him, he is drawing again, his hands making wide swooping lines on the paper. His long golden hair falls into his eyes, his slender frame looks small on the steps of the large house.

She grins, though she cannot see him, because they take care of each other, this brother and her.

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**I have some ideas for this, but I'm not sure if this is good, or if I should continue. Do you like Peeta's and Katniss's children's names? Please let me know what you think? Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

Senna has red hair that matches the sky at sunset, and brown eyes so dark they look black. Her parents fought in the War against the Capitol twenty-eight years ago, and her ancestors are from the district of livestock, once known District 10. Senna often laughs at her heritage, as she is a vegetarian, not because she loves animals, but because she hates them.

Lyric doesn't understand how Senna does not want to know more about who she is and where she's from, but Senna lives in the moment. 'The past is the past' She says, and she grins that famous grin.

Today, she runs to meet Lyric at first sight, and they spin each other around in circles. They chatter excitedly about the coming dance in the Council Hall as they wander around town, and Senna mentions that there is a new boy in town, Flint, from what used to be 11. Senna loves boys, and she describes him as if he is like the fairy tale princes they learned about in the history books from the Old Days.

Lyric rolls her eyes at her best friend, and notices they have walked all the way through town, past the bakery and the laundry and the new car shop. She sees the way the sky is turning dark with dusk. She gives Senna a tight hug while her friend is still talking, stopping her rambling mid-speech.

"You're leaving?" Senna pouts.

"Yes." Lyric says exasperated. "It's dark already. I have to get home. My brother..."

Senna looks around surprised, as if she has not noticed the time that has passed in the last two hours. "Alright. See you tomorrow?" She smiles her convincing smile, the one that allows her parents to give her what she wants, that leaves boys falling at her feet.

Lyric grins back because it is hard to resist, and she turns away without answering.

The walk home is cold with the setting sun, and Lyric wraps her arms around her shivering arms. She wishes she had stayed to eat dinner with Hunter.

Sometimes, Lyric skips dinner and wears thin clothes in the winter because she feels guilty that she is not starving like her mother and father used to be in 12, in the arena. She wonders briefly if the world thinks she is a silly, flighty girl because she hides her thoughts behind feigned forgetfulness and silly laughter. Lyric doesn't mind-she is somewhat terrified that the world will see who she really is, beneath her smile.

Sometimes, the world is more empty than it seems. Sometimes, Lyric cannot be around Senna because she hates how shallow people are. Sometimes, Lyric wishes she knew her mother, and sometimes, Lyric hates her. Why can't Katniss trust her? She is good at hiding secrets away.


	3. Chapter 3

Katniss and Peeta are sitting at the table in the living room when Lyric walks in the front door. Her sun dress is dirty from the dusty winds that decorate the landscape, and her hair is curly and tousled and keeps falling into her face, but her appearance is nothing compared to her parents.

Katniss's dark hair-the exact same as Lyric's-is tied back in a familiar braid, but her shirt is torn, and Peeta appears as if he has been dragged through the woods by a terrified horse.

Lyric rushes into the kitchen to hug them. "What happened to you?"

"Sit down Lyric. Hunter." Katniss says, and Hunter, who has been hovering by the door, moves to sit beside her, shoving her over on the long wooden bench. Lyric can't help but notice how grave her parents' faces are. She is itching with curiosity, but her brother sits patiently, and she knows he has learned that asking will not guarantee an answer. They will speak in time.

It is Peeta who speaks first, moving his hand to hold Katniss's, and staring them both in the eye. "We decided it's time to tell you about our past. In the Games."

Lyric blurts out: "But what happened to you-"

Katniss holds up a hand to silence her. Lyric's voice trails off, she should know better, but fury rises in her, until she feels ready to explode. She has spent her whole life waiting for her mother to trust her, and being silenced again is infuriating.

Katniss does not seem to notice her daughter's anger. Peeta has always been better at sensing feelings, of seeing what others do not, and he sends her a pleading look over the table that quiets her anger. Somehow, she always feels like her father understands her so much more.

When Katniss speaks, her voice is cold, buried deep within memories she has tried so hard to forget. "A long time ago, there was 12 Districts and a Capitol. They had been punished for their rebelling against the Capitol years before. The Hunger Games were created as a reminder to the people of Panem about the price of rebelling. The people in the Capitol had plenty of money and food, no worries, but the Districts were full of starving people. Some of them, like 1, 2, and 3 were better off than most, but there were so many people that suffered. I lived in 12. We were known for mining. When I was young, my father died in a mining accident and left my mother, my sister, Prim, and I alone. I learned to hunt in the woods outside my house, with a bow my father left me…."

Katniss's voice drifts on as the night get's longer and the sky turns darker. Peeta adds in comments here and there, people that Katniss didn't mention, small details she has overlooked.

They tell of the Hunger Games. They tell of Cato and Thresh and Foxface. They tell of little Rue, with her five younger brothers and sisters. The flowers. The families. The thank-you they received in 11.

Peeta speaks of the romance between them, first a plot to get them out alive, and then later, true love. He tells of the baby and the wedding and Mockingjay dresses.

Katniss's voice gets hollow when she talks of the Quarter Quell. Of the reaping. Of Peeta's volunteer. Katniss's eyes blink fast as they try to hide away the memories. She liked Finnick from the beginning, Lyric can tell. Aunt Johanna too, even with all of the teasing. Katniss is honest when she says she did not suspect a plot in the arena, but Lyric also believes Peeta when he says that he did. All the tributes dying for them, there was something hidden there, something breakable, something like a plan.

He takes over when her voice breaks. He takes over when Katniss confesses that he was captured. That he was picked up by the Capitol and tortured for information. Katniss was-is-the Mockingjay, the symbol of the rebellion, the force that tore the country apart and stitched it back together, on the ashes of those buried before them.

Peeta's voice is so calm that Lyric can feel herself as if she is there. She can see the Peacekeepers in their white uniforms, can feel the heat from the bomb blasts that rock the street. Lyric cries when he tells of Finnicks's death. Her cousin Finn is surely as brave as his father was.

Hunter has been quiet during the whole story, but Lyric can see shining in his eyes when Peeta talks of the explosion that killed Prim. He weaves a tale only he could, that makes Lyric believe she can see it. If she closes her eyes, she can picture, with perfect clarity, what he is saying.

The flash of fire burns her too, but deep inside, in a place that dreams and wishes and cries. She is burning. She can see suddenly why her mother did not want to tell her, why it is such a secret. Her parent's world was a nightmare that they will never escape.

"I still get confused sometimes." Peeta says, hands tapping on the table nervously. "The tracker jacker venom-I forget what's real."

This time, it is Katniss's hand who reaches for his.

Peeta turns to smile at her. "But its all right, because we saved each other."

Katniss's returning smile is hesitant in a way that tells Lyric she does not fully believe this, that she still feels guilty for the pain he underwent. "You tried to kill me once." She teases.

"Oh!" He pretends to act offended. "And what exactly were you doing when you gave me those berries?"

Katniss grins. "I was rebelling against the Capitol."

Peeta's laugh fills the entire room. Lyric can't help but laugh with him.


	4. Chapter 4

Later, they are curled up on the couch, watching the TV where a man with a funny yellow hat is teaching an audience how to sing. Peeta's arm is around Katniss's shoulders, and Hunter and Lyric are shoved into Peeta's side. They are shoved together, but Lyric doesn't mind. This is the closest she has felt to her parents in a long time. She is half-asleep, drifting off to the educational experience of learning how to sing different notes, when she remembers.

"What happened to you two in the woods? Why were you so dirty?"

The room is dead silent, even quiet Hunter tenses beside her. They wait together, hoping for an answer to a question. It is such a small gift that their parents have never given them-before tonight.

Lyric feels Peeta's head to turn so he can meet Katniss's eyes, and he takes a deep breath of preparation-obviously he has seen some confirmation in his wife's eyes. "We were attacked by some men. They were angry about the Old War."

Hunter shifts beside her. "Old members of the army?" He asks, disbelieving. Lyric knows how smart he is, she knows he is doing math figures quickly in his head. "They would have to be fourteen to join the army, that would make them forty-two at the youngest. They've held a grudge for twenty-eight years?"

"Some people will never get over it." Katniss says quietly. "So many people were killed. Surely there are still people that are angry."

"Can't you tell the truth?" Lyric yells jumping to her feet, instigated by the feigned calm tone that fills her mother's voice, and her attempt to distract. "I'm fourteen! And he's twelve, and _brilliant_. You can trust us!"

Katniss stands too, and Lyric remembers why she chose to save Peeta, the calm in the fiery storm. Her mother is as angry as she is, Lyric realizes to late. "It's not a matter of trust." Katniss seethes. "Everything I told you tonight has put you into danger. You want the truth? I'll tell you: They were old members of the Capitol Army. The rebels let a few soldiers go, a couple of boys, thirteen or so, who Plutarch decided were innocent. But I recognized one of them in the woods today. They've been plotting to take out the districts."

"What happened to them?" Hunter asks, standing so he can look Katniss in the eye. "You didn't hurt them, did you?"

Katniss winces. "No. We didn't hurt them. We turned them into the Mayor. He's deciding their punishment."

"That's why we told you our story." Peeta cuts in, standing from the couch to join their angry circle. "So...in case it repeats itself. You know what to do."

Lyric was confused. _Know what to do?_ She turned to Peeta, to ask what he meant, but before she could speak, there was a knock at the door.

Katniss nodded to Peeta, and Peeta moved Lyric and Hunter out of sight. Lyric could hear Katniss open the door. She could feel the breeze from the country air.

There was silence. And then Katniss, surprised. "Gale?"

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_Review?_


	5. Chapter 5

"Get inside, quick." Lyric hears, and a tall dark stranger pushes her mother back into the house. Lyric pulls her mother's bow from where it hangs from above the fireplace, and aims it at the man.

The man catches sight of her and steps back, hands in the air, nearly bumping into the boy that followed him inside. The boy, maybe fifteen or so, is the exact replica of the man, from his dark curls to his tall lanky frame. Both men look like Katniss, in the dark hair, and the distrustful gray eyes, and Lyric knows this is the Seam's doing.

"She really is yours, huh Catnip?" His voice sounds friendly, so Lyric lowers the weapon, keeping it by her side. "Sorry I shoved you." He continues. "I didn't want anyone to see me."

Lyric glances out the window, to the lonely houses in what used to called Victors Village. Haymitch's dark house at the end of the lane is the only structure that has housed occupants for the last thirty years. No one would see 'Gale' and the boy here.

"Katniss." The man-Gale-says. "It's good to see you." Gale's voice is hesitant, permission for forgiveness is laced in between the words. "I-I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again." The boy behind him steps away from the door, and Gale turns quickly around. "Uh, this is my son-Ryan."

Lyric can tell by his words, his stance, that Gale was some past friend, or lover of her mothers. She wonders quickly about the boy's mother, and then returns to stare intently at Gale, protective. Lyric keeps the bow clasped loosely in her right hand.

Gale's gaze shifts around to meet all of their eyes, and this breaks Katniss from her frozen astonishment. "Gale. Yes." She clears her throat, and then points to us. "Lyric, Peeta, Hunter."

Gale steps forward and shakes Peeta's hand. The man nods respectfully. They seem to be fragile allies; Lyric wonders what this all means. This day started out normal, but quickly spun out of control. Gale turns back to Lyric's mother, and she can see him searching for a way to lighten the tension. He grins at her. "You've been a rebel your whole damn life Katniss Everdeen. The Mockingjay, the poaching...You named your kids to make a dead man angry."

"I named my kids to remember." Katniss says angrily.

"You won't ever forget." Gale reminds her, and his voice is so possessive, so secretive. As if he is reminding her of things that only they know together.

Katniss nods tensely. "I _know_."

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**Please let me know if I should continue this story. Maybe it sucks? I don't know, but I'm slightly discouraged by the lack of response. Review, and let me know what you think? Thanks.**


	6. Chapter 6

Gale lays a quilt out on the living room couch that night, after Hunter has already wandered up to his bedroom. She's sitting at the kitchen table, watching the pair while she pretends to read a book about The Histories. The boy, Ryan, moves around his father as if he is uncomfortable with the situation, and Lyric wonders if he was forced to come along on the distant journey.

Gale looks up and catches her staring. She tries to ignore the way her face flushes when she glances back down to the book. But, to late, Gale wanders over to the table and takes a seat across from her. He lays his hands on the table, relaxed, and Lyric notices the callouses.

"Are you a soldier?" She asks, quietly, aware of her mother and father's restless wandering on the floor above her head. Perhaps, Katniss is pacing.

Gale raises his dark eyebrows in a silent question. His son moves behind him and leans against his father's chair, he studies her quietly for a moment. _He looks like a soldier_, but she won't tell him that. Gale nods slowly, when he understands she won't explain how she knows, he opens his mouth to answer. "Yes. In District-" He pauses, corrects himself. "In what used to be District Two."

"Are you in charge?"

Gale nods again. Runs a hand through his thick dark curls. "Yes. Commander."

Lyric bites her lip and nods in reply, flipping the page of her book as if she is still interested. President Snow's smug smile shines up from the page in her book, and Lyric takes a moment to read the page.

_President Snow died after his capture by Rebel Forces. He was known to be the creator and approver of the Hunger Games. The deceased president argued that the famous Games were designed to remind the people of Panem the punishment of rebelling against the all-powerful Capitol. President Coriolanus Snow's death has been speculated but never confirmed, as his death occurred when Katniss Everdeen has known to have assassinated Commander Coin._

Lyric's fingers trace her mother's name, and her eyes skip to the next paragraph. She's well aware that Gale and Ryan are probably watching her movements right now, but after learning her parent's story just this afternoon, the pieces are fitting together like Hunter's favorite childhood zebra puzzle.

_Katniss Everdeen was known to be the symbol of the Rebellion. After surviving two Hunger Games, she was rescued by Capitol forces, leaving her lover and husband alone to the Capitol's tortures._ Lyric winces, tries to pretend that doesn't hurt. _The Mockingjay fought for the rebellion, saving lives and inspiring soldiers wherever she was assigned. Known to have lost the baby that she carried through her second Hunger Games, she didn't allow the pain of loss to slow her advancements against the despised President and the Capitol for which he served._

Lyric's fingers slow on the pages of the book, and she raises her bright blue eyes to meet the gray eyes of Gale. He was from the Seam, like her mother. Maybe they played together as children. Maybe he taught her to hunt. _Did he cry when she volunteered for Prim?_ Lyric can see no answers on his handsome face.

"How do you know my mother?"

"I was raised on the Seam. I've known her since she was twelve."

Lyric nods, but her eyes narrow in concentration. Gale is not an easy person to read, she quickly learning.

"What?" Gale asks, wondering at her questioning gaze.

"Did you kill her sister?"

Gale jumps to his feet, the chair skittering back on the wooden floor behind him. Ryan steps quickly back a step, hands held up defensively. Gale's hands are clenched into fists at his sides, and his jaw is hard. "_Why_ would you say something like that?"

Lyric is trembling at his response: her own small hands are clenched tightly around each other, to hide the shaking, and she takes a deep breath to give her courage before answering. "She was angry when she saw you. You were apologetic. You said 'I wasn't sure I'd see you again' but you grew up together, you were obviously good friends. The only thing I can think of, that would hurt Katniss so badly that she would refuse to speak to you, is that you hurt her sister."

Gale is quiet for a moment, the silence of the abandoned kitchen is only broken by Ryan taking a seat beside his father at the table. Gale sighs, turns to stare out the darkened window, and the returns his gaze to her. "You are very smart." But Lyric shakes her head, no. She is not the smart one: Hunter is. Gale's lips quirk up in amusement at her silent denial. "Do you know of the Hunger Games?" He asks.

Lyric nods. "I know my parents survived them."

His eyes cloud with hidden pain. "Yes. They survived. But that wasn't the plan. But Katniss and Peeta changed the rules."

Lyric begs for the story. "Tell me."

He does.

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**Please let me know of any mistakes...suggestions...advice. Thanks for reading! Review?**


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